OnScreen Review: "The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It"
Ken Jones, Chief Film Critic
When The Conjuring first came out in 2013, little did we know that it would spawn not just sequels but an entire Conjuring Universe of movies. The constant for the main movies (The Conjuring and The Conjuring 2) have been director James Wan and actors Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga. For The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It, Wilson and Farmiga are back, but Wan has stepped away as director, serving only as Producer.
Taking his place in the director’s chair is Michael Chaves, who directed 2019’s The Curse of La Llorona, which I only just now found out is a part of the Conjuring Universe. The third entry of the primary franchise in this shared universe of eight movies is not the worst of the eight, but it is a notable step down from the previous Conjuring movies.
Based on the true story of the first criminal case to claim demonic possession as a legal defense, this third installment takes place in 1981, a full decade after the events of the first film. Ed and Lorraine Warren (Wilson and Farmiga, respectively), have a particularly tough case of demonic possession that they are assisting with which results in a health scare for Ed and the possession jumping from David (Julian Hilliard), a young boy, to Arne Johnson (Ruairi O’Connor), the boyfriend of the boy’s older sister, Debbie (Sarah Catherine Hook). A short time later, Arne ends up in jail accused of murder while being possessed, and Ed and Lorraine try to figure out what or who is behind it all, entering into a world of witchcraft and black magic.
In a way, it is fitting that this story focuses as much on the occult as it does the demonic possession. There was an increased hysteria in America in the 1980s about satanic cults and murders related to the occult. No doubt, the real-life case this film is based on added to that hysteria.
These stories centered on Ed and Lorraine Warren have always had an element of them playing supernatural detectives trying to solve the case of haunting and possession, but the detective work is much more prominent this time around. The discovery of a totem under the house leads to another unsolved case, and leads to Father Kastner (John Noble), a retired priest with extensive knowledge of the occult and an extensive collection of artifacts.
Another strong through line of these films has also been the relationship between Ed and Lorraine, with their marriage being an unshakeable bond, a constant and a touchstone for both in the face of darkness and evil. This film relies on that bond more than ever before, providing even further backstory and hinging a lot of the final act on their love conquering all. Outside of Ed and Lorraine, though, it is hard to find a compelling character to really invest in like you could with the families in the first two films.
Sadly, this film does not bring the scares and jumps as consistently as the previous films. There are distinct moments in both The Conjuring and The Conjuring 2 that will make your hair stand on end (think of the reveal of dresser in The Conjuring). Aside from the opening, the haunted house element is almost completely absent from this entry, replaced with the witchcraft and the Warren’s sleuthing. Also, being that a murder case is at the center of everything, the film teases a courtroom drama but does not actually deliver anything compelling on that front. And the health scare that Ed experiences in the opening scene of the film feels like a plot contrivance more than anything. There are just fewer scares and more that does not land this time around.
The Conjuring and The Conjuring 2 were horror movies that were steeped in traditional, old school horror scares, ratcheting up the tension and building on moments that would set up a big, effective scare as a payoff. The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It loses a lot of that magic. Ed and Lorraine may still be enough to hold a film together for some people, but this film is lacking in areas that the previous movies really delivered on in a big way.
Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
(The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It is in theaters and streaming on HBO Max through July 4th.)